Barnaby Jones Started This All!
by Todd Tannehill on 01/09/14
Today Dee and I were discussing cell phones, pong, and just the fact that we both can remember black and white television and TV sets. We talked about the wall phone with the 25 foot stretched out cord. I remember when Dad changed the cord to the longer cord – oh the freedom! I could lay on the couch and talk.
Back in the day the white pages had a listing and some had something else under it; a teen number. I was never lucky enough to get listed as “Teen Number,” but my parents did wise up and get a distinct ring. Three fast rings and my Dad never moved. We also had chat rooms, but they were limited to the number of friends that had three-way calling. The problem was if someone in the middle had to go to bed – you lost half the room!
It was after the Navy that I got my first cell phone. Up till then Barnaby Jones (Google it) was the only car phone I had seen. In fact, that was what the first phones were called – car phones. I thought he invented the car phone! The thought that these huge cases and phones would be located anywhere else was mad! My first phone was a bag phone the size of a shoe-box. It had a regular phone receiver and an antenna you stuck to the car window. This was fitting since Dad was wearing a Motorola pager on his belt the size of a brick! Barnaby Jones never dialed. In the show he would pick up the phone and say, “Operator give me a landline.”
We have come so far in a very short time. Today we have Cell Phones everywhere, but in fact we are all walking around with computers in hand. Our lives are documented by text, email, and checking in to Social Sites. We are writer, actor, and producers of our own life. Don’t believe it – spend an evening wandering around YouTube. I am not complaining – just reflecting.
Talk soon – Todd
Down 3.8 lbs toward the goal and the battle continues.
Waking Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed!
by Todd Tannehill on 01/08/14
Yesterday was not a fun morning. I woke-up at 5:00 like every morning and walked around the bed. I always give Noah, the dog, a nudge so he comes down with me and doesn't bark in the bedroom.
Noah and I walked towards the bedroom door on the other side of the room. I reached for the handle and… BOOOOM! I fell!
I fell hard taking the brunt of the impact on the left side of my face. I felt the carpet as it hit me and face met floor. My arms were nowhere to be found. I was like that boxer who just took the final blow; falling to the mat with arms dangling along the side.
Dee rushed to my side still asleep herself. She was trying to figure out (1) what that large crash was and (2) why her husband was passed out on the floor by the bed. Dee would later say she heard me say “I’m Hurt” right after the house jolting crash.
Note I said Dee found me by the bed and not by the door I had already opened. In fact my head was just at the foot of the bed on my side. Noah had not even woke yet from his dog bed!
It seems my getting up routine was just a dream and my head was way ahead of my body. William Arthur Ward said, “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” I was dreaming the whole getting up ritual! In my mind I was already out the door and the dog was right with me. At some point the body decided to catch up. I must have stood up and then crashed my ever shrinking 300-lb frame to the floor without ever taking a step!
I woke with a rug burned face, fat lip, and sore left side. I saw Dee there, but I wasn't sure if she was helping or counting me out! I thought for a minute I heard my trainer say “Stay Down!” Kidding aside I stayed there motionless testing parts of my body to see what was hurt.
In the end it was my foggy recollection of the event that kept me thinking about it all day. This morning when I woke, I put my feet on the floor and slapped myself on the face to see if I was awake! I didn't want to wake up on the wrong side of the bed again.
Talk Soon - Todd
(-3.6 lbs since 1/1/14)
It Is Okay To Be Connected
by Todd Tannehill on 01/06/14
So welcome – it is the New Year and my job had me running so much that I thought I would take the weekend away from the computer. Have you ever done that? No email, text, or Facebook – nothing!
I made it until Sunday when I had to jump on Facebook to participate in the family football chat. My family is spread out, but through Facebook we can watch the game together from our homes in Ohio, Illinois, Washington, and beyond. It is not quite like sitting in the room, but we do have fun.
So my question today is; is Facebook, text, email, and messenger really such a bad thing if it keeps families closer?
On a completely different subject, my New Year’s resolution to lose 125-lbs is off to a good start. I am down 2.6 for the year with only 122.4-lbs to go. I will say I needed this very bad as I ballooned with the new position. So much more office time and less getting out there and moving. Keeping the weight off is just part of the new adjustment.
I am not looking at the 122.4 all in one chunk – that would be certain failure! I have broken it down into small victories with non-food rewards. I will tell you more about that this week.
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